Messy stuff
by Shrew2
Summary: Kazekage's muscles rotting, ahhhh fK! GaaraSakura
1. Infection

Day off- her one day off. It was used to sleep and think of nothing.

Hospital, training, hospital, mission, hospital, training, day off.

'Relax' Sakura said to the roof, back flat on the bed.

When's the last time she had cleaned her house?

She turned to her side, dangled her arm over the bed. Filthy house stared back, disgusting mess.

No one came up here so it didn't matter. Justification I. When's the last time she had contacted anybody except Tsunade herself? Justification II. When had Ino even- had she handed in those papers to Tsunade? Had she? No- there they were. On the table, next to some empty glasses, medic books, a deodorant can.

Diagnostics for the latest 'special' patient to make the hospital his temporary home- Tsunade had wanted those on her desk last night.

'_Day off_!' Inner Sakura struggled for control of the situation- she was winning. Sakura hadn't even shifted from her position on the bed, '_Just give them to her tomorrow…_'

Her teacher's masked face flashed into her thoughts, 'To think too long about doing a mission often becomes its undoing Sakura'. Kakashi nipped her procrastination at the bud. She stretched while she looked at the clock beside her once again, kicked the remaining blankets off- how could she have forgotten? She was exhausted, six days at the hospital in a row- it was a wonder she could even remember how to return home last night.

A shower and a couple of run-ins with her wardrobe, the medic kunoichi was out the door, toast in hand. It was hot. Bright. She turned into a cool alleyway and walked slowly, enjoyed the breeze inside the shadows of the narrow pathway. It was really a beautiful day- she should have gotten out of bed earlier and enjoyed it. The last of the toast made its way into her mouth as a random pebble lodged itself into her sandal. As she shook her foot around to help the gravel on its way Sakura's team mate approached her from the other end of the alleyway:

− 'Good afternoon Sakura-chan!'

− 'Oh, good afternoon Naruto. How was the mission?'

Pebble out, she could straighten her posture- her companion still towered over her.

− 'No problems, nothing. Boring. It was a disappointment actually' the ninja grinned.

− 'Only you Naruto- where are you going?'

− 'Kakashi- need to pass on a little something interesting I learnt during the last mission'

− 'Really?' Sakura rested her weight on one of the houses moulding the alleyway- it seemed like the conversation was going to take awhile.

− 'He'll be able to tell you himself soon enough. Take a day off Sakura-chan! Looks like you need it' With that said he saluted her casually and was off.

She felt annoyed at the encounter. By the time she had reached Tsunade's office however, Naruto's need to keep her out of the loop was the last of her worries. Sakura knocked lightly twice to no reply. She knocked harder- once. It didn't seem like there was anybody there- she knocked sharply and strongly three times.

− 'WHAT?!' Tsunade's tone attacked Sakura through the thick wooden doors

− 'It's me, Sakura'

− 'Oh- get in here,' Sakura was bombarded, interrogated, as soon as she walked into the Hokage's office, 'You know you don't have to knock! What's wrong with you? You forgot those papers yesterday Sakura!'

− 'I've got them with me. I'm sorry, I was just completely exhausted yesterday'

− 'You know he's already here,' Tsunade snatched the papers from Sakura's hand, 'He still hasn't woken up. You're very lucky these weren't needed- we would have had a lot of explaining to do'

− 'I'm sorry sensei'

− 'Would of started a war' Tsunade was flicking the papers sharply back and forth now.

− 'Please accept my apologies' Sakura bowed deeply, knew she would have to apologize till her voice turned hoarse. The Hokage however grew silent and then changed the topic all together.

− 'You're going to have to help me with this one Sakura'

− 'I understand. You'll do fine' Sakura reassured her teacher with a smile as she straightened up. Tsunade flicked the papers to the side of her desk and smiled back at her.

− 'It's your day off so I only have this to ask of you- go copy these and drop them off to one off the Kazekage's advisors will you?'

− 'Sure thing. My apologies again Tsunade-sempai'

Sakura grabbed the papers that had caused her so much grief and walked out quietly, clump of paper under her arm. At the hospital she copied the files by hand in her office. Her office- she wasn't supposed to be in its innards today of all days.

'_It's your day off dammit_!' Sakura's inner fury protested. Slowly however the diagnostic, copied verbatim, crept its way into the kunoichi's consciousness. The Kazekage's health had deteriorated recently, a muscle condition, and Sunagakure medical ninja had no treatment. Their options: ask their neighbours for help or let their Kazekage's muscles rot. His peripheral pulses were clearly absent when he arrived, his cramps acute from the very onset. He would be in Konoha for two months enduring major surgery- thin but powerful channels of chakra were to be pumped into the Kazekage's body re-wiring all his deep tendon reflexes in all his limbs. Hopefully, he'll be able to walk again, if not- well, Sakura didn't really care. She was excited to practise such complex and dangerous medical jutsu- the fact that she had no attachment to the man was an added bonus.

Diagnostic finished, Sakura walked to the Kazekage's room. She was met by two guards outside the door with hourglasses inscribed into their forehead protectors.

− 'Excuse me, this is the diagnostic report for the Kazekage. Who-' Sakura was cut off by the youngest of the two guards.

− 'You have it? Thank you very much. I will hand this personally to Temari-san herself'

The young man walked up to her, stretched out his arm, wrist exposed. How naive- Sakura thought. She smiled at the boy and passed him the papers. The boy somehow caught her attention-

− 'Your name?' Sakura inquired.

− 'Ah,' the boy looked back at his comrade, 'I'm sorry but I can't give out that information' The guard bowed deeply then returned to his post. He looked straight ahead as Sakura made her way out- confused. Nothing more was said.

She would arrive back at her home thirty minutes later, have her house cleaned three hours after that, and study till the early hours of the morning. Skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, sleep. Deep sleep.

Sakura found herself back in her office- the day after her day off, the longest day away from the next one. Caffeinated, nevertheless. It wasn't long before she had someone through her office. Young girl, thirteen or fourteen, by herself- clearly anxious.

− 'Ah good morning' girl bowed.

− 'What can I help you with?' The girl reluctantly came closer to Sakura and sat on a chair in front of the medic's desk. The girl was blushing furiously, looking down at the ground.

− 'My team came back from a mission, it was, ah, awhile before we reached Konoha so I went on a toilet break and I was bitten,' The girl's cheeks flushed, her ears bright red, 'On my thigh, I mean, I was bitten, bitten on my thigh- sensei told me to come, oh how embarrassing' The girl was practically bowing seated, the floor stared back up at her.

− 'Don't be embarrassed, it's happened to the best of us,' Sakura smiled at the top of the girl's head, 'The only time the boys win one over us huh?' Sakura had to make the girl relax- there was no way she would be able to look at the bite at this rate.

− 'Now, did you see what bit you?'

− 'No'

− 'No idea?'

− 'I don't know' the girl tensed up more.

− 'How does it feel? You in pain?'

− 'Not really'

− 'You're not in pain? That's good, that's- how does it look? Bad?'

− 'I still haven't shown my sensei'

− 'Oh,' Sakura sat up from her chair, walked around her desk, and put both her hands on the girl's shoulders, 'Do you want to go behind that curtain over there and lie down? I need to have a look at this bite'

The girl got up, her hands sweaty, eyes bloodshot. Sakura knew she couldn't make a fuss or the girl would more than likely run out the door. Slowly, the medic led her patient to the corner of the room, closed the curtain after her, and waited as the young girl took off her lower garments in privacy.

− 'Everything fine?' Sakura asked as she heard the girl lift herself onto the examination table.

− 'Ah yes'

Sakura slowly opened the curtain and the colour of the bruise struck her instantly. The innermost part of the wound was black, turning to dark and light blues as it spread its way up the girls leg. Poison. She was poisoned. Sakura couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it- she had dismissed the girl's behaviour as just- just, dismissed it altogether. The kunoichi placed both her hands on top of the deep black pit of the infection and started pumping chakra into the young girl's body. The infection instantly reacted- light blues turned lighter, dark blues and blacks swirled into pale paste- the initial infection became a vacuum sucking the rest of the poison back into itself.

− 'Is, ah, is it bad?' the girl asked face still down. Sakura realized she hadn't said a word to comfort the girl

− 'No not that bad, only big, ha' Awful.

Sakura began to perspire, her hands began to feel like they were on fire. As soon as she lost concentration a new gangrene of blue started to spread under the girl's skin, up her thigh. Sakura broke contact with the patient and performed two jutsus- one to cancel some unneeded release points, the other to divert this potent chakra to her hands. Once completed she placed both her hands on top of the girl's leg and began once again. Complete concentration. The poison and the infection had no chance- within ten seconds the wound was healed and undetectable on the young girl's leg.

− 'Right,' Sakura needed to sit down, 'We're done. I'll close the curtain for you'

Setting: Check

Confrontation: Next time round

Fanfic convention: I don't own Naruto

I've given myself a lot of creative freedom with the grammar. If it bothers you and you like the story, please treat it as an interesting conversationalist momentarily picking his nose.

Have a really good day.


	2. Ink

It was just her, her shisho and him in that room, that morning. Sakura dipped her brush into the shallow pot of dark green ink, wiped the excess ink off on her forearm, and began to write the needed scriptures on the Kazekage's naked body. She began on his collar bone, directly above his heart and began writing down. Small, even strokes. Fast and precise. His body was so pale his veins where visible throughout his body.

− 'To his pelvis Shisho?' Sakura checked.

− 'The Air scripture? … Yes to there'

Tsunade had her own ink and brush, hers a dark blue. She was writing her scriptures on the Kazekage's throat. They had already finished with his back, had let it dry, now they were working on the front. It was more comfortable when she couldn't see his face- his eyes were looking straight ahead of him now. Motionless. At one point Tsunade kicked a chair that was in her way next to the bed and his eyes turned to look at her- a slow journey, Sakura thought, from the ceiling to the bedside, and then, just as slowly, back to where they had come from.

Sakura had finished the earth, water and air scriptures. Tsunade had completed fire, light and was finishing ether. Only the element of thought remained and that was to be finished at the end of the operation- if it was successful.

− 'Please refrain from talking while the ink dries on your throat Gaara…' Tsunade warned as she set her brush and inkpot next to the bed and cleaned the ink off her hands.

Unneeded warning.

− 'Sakura,' Tsunade looked at her disciple as if she had spoken her thoughts aloud, 'the entry points…'

Tsunade was ready to begin- Sakura wasn't. Her body was there, her mind was on the cheap seats of consciousness, far away looking back.

− 'Don't internalize, I need you all here… Sakura?'

Was she an open book?- Sakura thought. If so Tsunade had tagged her, bookmarked her and highlighted inside. Knew which page to turn to even. Sakura began to perform the required seals to stabilize the base chakras in the Kazekage's body: Root, Sacral, Navel, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, Crown. As she opened each one, and regulated those that were both under and over active, the scriptures on the Kazekage's body began to faintly glow. When all seven base chakras were under Sakura's control, Tsunade began channelling her own chakra deep within the man's body.

Cells, tissue, organs, limbs- existing but not self-aware. All expressions of something bigger than themselves. Yet something was working against the whole, something in the inside wanted to devour everything- including itself. Tsunade followed the chakra flow of the Kazekage's body with her own; she found the problem at the end of her search, or rather, at the beginning. The very first chakra, the root, the foundation of his very body was dormant, dead.

Tsunade looked up at her student. Sakura had maintained the seal of the horse- index fingers resting on each other, bent thumbs, the rest of her fingers intertwined. She understood.

− 'Sakura, divert all of the excess chakra from the over-active bases to the root'

− 'Shisho-'

− 'I'm going to find the fire scriptures, clean the rest of them off'

Tsunade broke off her chakra from the Kazekage's body, walked to the door, left. Sakura was alone now, alone with something that shouldn't even be living. She looked at the Kazekage as the Kazekage stared at the wall- she broke off her seal. He seemed like he was already dead- even when he was on the vicious offence in times long past he seemed more alive. His eyes suddenly moved sideways to meet hers and Sakura began to think about answers to his possible questions. But none came, he simply moved his eyes ever so slightly to something behind Sakura- this was all Sakura really needed though. As she began to clean the scriptures off his body with a damp rag she decided to speak:

− 'Kazekage-sama your root chakra is motionless' Sakura carefully pressed the rag on the Kazekage's neck and wiped each symbol off one by one. Every so often she dipped her cloth into the large bowl of water beside her and stained the water blue. Once his neck was clean she felt confident enough to continue, 'Konoha teaches that the chakra from the root connects the mind to the body- it is the first chakra used when you enter the world and the last when you leave it'

She squeezed the excess water from the rag in the bowl and saw him looking at her hands. He was listening, his eyes let her continue.

− 'Since the first chakra is what connects one to the present it is the underlying structure for all the other chakra in the body. We live in the present through feeling, which instigates will, allowing us to communicate with others, form affectionate relationships, express ourselves, and finally gain insight and wisdom'

His eyes caught hers again:

− 'Konoha then cannot explain this aberration' his voice crept through, something unused. Eyes went back to the ceiling and Sakura wished she never spoke. She washed away the orange ink from the sacral, the yellow from the navel, the green from the heart. When she finished she left the rag in the muddy water and sat down on a chair in the far reaches of the room. Tsunade eventually returned, rolls of parchment under her arms, breathing heavily.

− 'Root scripture intact?' Tsunade asked. Sakura nodded. Tsunade made her way to the patient as Sakura lifted herself off the chair and approached the bed, 'Gaara you in pain?'

− 'No'

− 'Good, good, very good' the Hokage muttered as she unrolled a piece of parchment on a table in the room and stared at its innards, 'Sakura come! … See here? We're going to force the root open through the crown' Tsunade pointed at a diagram, some scriptures- all it meant was that the situation was being dealt with through desperate measures. Sakura became more uncomfortable.

− 'How will we be able to synchronize our thoughts Shisho?'

− 'This visualization- instead of the snake of energy curling upward through the spine, it'll have to be sliding downward'

− 'But how-' Sakura stopped herself. If Gaara could even exist then surely she could accept the notion of backward chakra. She looked at the visualization, memorized it, and walked back to her side of the bed. As Tsunade read over some finer details Sakura began to pick at the material of her skirt. The element of thought was the last element that could not be fully controlled by any ninja. Even meddling with thought in others could lead to death in both the patient and the medic. He stared at her hands as she pulled at loose strings, wrapped the string around her fingers, and plucked them, abandoning them on the floor.

Tsunade eventually walked over and positioned herself in front of Sakura. She placed one hand above Gaara's heart, the other over his stomach and Sakura placed her hands above her teachers. The Hokage looked over at her disciple, nodded and closed her eyes- Sakura followed suit. They both imagined a mass of energy gathering in the Kazekage's skull- it was attached to the chakra of all of his surroundings, of every living organism of the past and future. Tsunade twitched her fingers and both her and Sakura released the mass of energy, visualized it spiralling downwards and falling into the bottomless well of Gaara's root. Master and student endured this process till Sakura's skull felt like it was under intense pressure- she twitched her left hand to warn her shisho and she in return guided the last of its energy to its proper resting place.

Sakura opened her eyes and rested her arms on the side of the bed- her body felt drained. She looked over at her teacher whose blonde hair was stuck to her face from perspiration and smiled. She could sense the deep red chakra of Gaara's twist and turn, it was alive, he was alive. Tsunade fetched a chair and sat down beside the bed, Sakura turned away to drink from the spare water that was supposed to clean the rest of the ink from his body. Her mouth and throat were dry- it felt like all the water in her body had evaporated. The element of thought- more dangerous than all the other elements combined for they created the elements to begin with.

− 'Try and move your arm' Tsunade.

Sakura turned around to see the Kazekage tighten his arm muscles, and eventually, move one arm a fraction closer to his own body, the other lift slightly. He tried his leg muscles after that which responded slowly but surely- a machine coming back to life. Tsunade looked over at her student and returned her smile from earlier.

− 'We'll call back your entourage if you wish. My student and I need to rest- excuse us' Tsunade started to walk to the door.

− 'No, I'd rather have some time by myself beforehand' the Kazekage tried to rest some of his weight on his elbows as he tried to lift himself up- so weak. Sakura understood. The Kazekage looked at Tsunade then Sakura and spoke as he looked at her, 'Thank you for everything you have done so far'

Tsunade nodded and Sakura smiled- tired smile. They left the Kazekage to become reacquainted with his body once again.

IoioIoIoioIo

Hope you enjoyed it. If you liked something above tell me, if you didn't tell me. Reviews make my day. So does Nietzsche, I'll leave you lot with this thought to ponder:

What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: 'this life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it. But every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence – even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself…' Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: 'You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine'… how well disposed would you have to become to yourself and to life _to crave nothing more fervently_ than this ultimate eternal confirmation and seal?

-Nietzsche, Gay Science.


	3. Ice

She had saved the Kazekage of Sunagakure, he would probably remember her for the rest of his life.

Well, Sakura thought as she lied on her bed, he better.

She twisted her body to the side to take a look at the clock on her bedside table. Another ten minutes and she would get up. That will make it 6:40 in the morning. He probably didn't even know her name. What was it about men like him that-? No. She couldn't answer that question. She couldn't begin to understand her feelings and passions let alone understand men like _him_. 6:32. Was she attracted to him? She closed her eyes and remembered the way he looked at her as she cleaned the scriptures off his body. She opened them to- 6:38. Two more minutes to daydream. As soon as the thought passed her mind she stopped kidding herself and got out of bed. Slippers, bathroom, shower, kitchen, wardrobe. 7:04.

She left and made her way to the training grounds in the forest where she was to meet Naruto. Back to training, back to perfecting her body. She spotted him at the clearing waiting for her. So keen.

− 'Sakura-chan!'

− 'Good morning Naruto'

− 'I've done my warm-ups already' the young man grinned at her, 'I heard about the Kazekage, congratulations!'

− 'Thanks'

− 'The old bat must be proud of you'

− 'You could say that...' Sakura began to roll her shoulders, 'As if she would ever show it though' Suddenly the necklace around Naruto's neck caught her sight- the inanimate object proved her wrong and she smiled at herself.

They finally took a break from training in the early afternoon. She brought out the lunch she had prepared for her companion and herself and fuelled her tired body- life was good. She hated that office, the paperwork, Tsunade breathing down her back. She was a ninja. This was her job. She smiled and lied down on the grass. As soon as he had devoured lunch, Naruto got up and began to warm up again. She still couldn't keep up with him.

− 'Who's that you think?' Naruto asked suddenly, stopped warming up even. His hand was shading his eyes, looking at the edge of the forest.

Who-? Sakura was confused. She then heard the multitude of voices coming closer to the clearing. She got up and dusted herself off. Then she saw him. He signalled for his small entourage to wait at the edge of the clearing then proceeded to walk over to where Naruto and her were waiting. The way he walked, his manner, his body, his presence- she couldn't stop staring. She could feel her head get hot, her palms sweaty.

− 'Gaara' Naruto walked the remaining distance between them and shook the Kazekage's hand.

No formalities with Naruto. At least with him there she didn't have to worry. She could relax. Naruto and Gaara began to talk. She managed to regain control of herself as he stole a glance at her mid-conversation. She approached the pair and Naruto instantly invited her into the conversation.

− 'This is the woman that let you live' Naruto put his hand on his team mate's shoulder.

− 'That's not how I would put it, exactly' Sakura looked at Naruto (annoyed) then stole another glance from the Kazekage. His eyes were on her. It was obvious now. Would Naruto notice?

− 'So the old bitch is letting you walk around huh?' Obviously not.

At the first break in the conversation Sakura voiced her fabricated question:

− 'Has everything healed properly?' Medic questions. She had a few more she could rattle off. He answered courteously. He was fine, everything was good. He complemented her and her teacher on their work. Naruto had nothing more to say after her questions were asked and answered and the conversation died. Gaara excused himself and joined his people waiting for him.

He stayed in her mind while training, while falling off to sleep, the following day. It rained all night- thunder, lightning. The farewell for the Kazekage still went ahead and Sakura found herself next to her sempai, underneath the mountain of Hokages, waiting to shake the Kazekage's hand before he left and give her farewells. The clouds were so heavy the daylight would not pass- it was dark, wet, and unbearable. After Tsunade's quick speech the Kazekage made his way through the line of important officials and selected ninja of Konoha, exchanging some quick words here and there, moving one by one. She stared at him as he shook the hand of an ANBU member beside her. Before he had even let go of the man's hand he turned his gaze to her. Sakura brought her hand forward, he grabbed it with his right and held it tightly. His hand- calloused and warm. She had to speak:

− 'I hope Leaf and Sand will continue working together in the future' Sakura was content with that. He smiled and brought his face closer to hers. Sakura instinctively looked straight ahead. He got as close to her ear as possible leaving the ANBU to her left and the Hokage to her right ignorant of his words.

− 'You'll plague my thoughts' She could feel his warm breath on the side of her face. As he pulled away his eyes were looking at the Hokages behind her. That was it. He squeezed her hand and let go. The Kazekage now turned his attention to the Hokage.

She continued to look straight ahead and instantly realized how tense her body had become. Her body felt light, confused, and disoriented as she watched him leave with his entourage through the gates of Konoha- back to his home, back to his life.

Sakura was never granted an audience with the Kazekage again.

oIoIoIoIoIoIoIoIoIoIoIo

mmmm, that's how I think it would happen.

Give me a review- make my day.


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